Another Blossom in My Heart
by Kin'ni
Summary: What if Suoh never got his three months' memory back? Three years later, would it be Nokoru's chance to earn a bigger spot in his heart?
1. Blossoms

Summary: What if Suoh never got his three months' memory back? Would this be the chance for Nokoru to finally earn a bigger spot in his heart?

Disclaimer: Clamp Gakuen Tanteidan, its characters, settings and events are © CLAMP. No copyright infringement is intended with the authoring of this story.

Warnings: *Shounen-ai. Yaoi. Don't like, don't read. Suoh/Nagisa fanatics out to flame me, not welcome…you wouldn't find Suoh/Nagisa here.

*Slight OOC- I'm not really a CCD super fan, co I wouldn't know them that well…if you see something that makes you go, "What the-? Suoh/Nokoru/whoever wouldn't do that…EVER!" please tell me…we'll see what we can do about it.

*Feminine guy. Don't like feminine guy/macho guy? Well I sure as hell won't be putting a macho guy/macho guy here, so better leave before it's too late…

NOTE:  NC-17 version can be found under the same title, category and subcategory and penname at adultfanfiction.net or upon request.

Another Blossom in My Heart

Kin'ni

"Kaichou[1]!" yelled Takamura Suoh, Clamp Gakuen Chuugaku Jigyoubu's[2] blue-haired secretary as he strode through the kaigishitsu[3], the double doors ricocheting off the wall with the force of which they were opened with.

Imonoyama Nokoru, the Student Council's blond-haired, blue-eyed genius of a President looked up, startled. "Doushite[4], Suoh?" he queried gently, getting ready to flash his best friend cum bodyguard a winning smile, just in case.

Suoh sighed in exasperation, coming to a halt in front of Nokoru's desk. Spreading his hands on the wide expanse of the President's desk, he spoke. "I though we had an agreement that you'd finish these first," he said, gesturing absently at the several ceiling-high wobbly stacks of paperwork surrounding the delicate blonde, "before you can go out and buy some sweets."

"Oh…ano[5]…well, I didn't go out," Nokoru answered with wide, innocent eyes.

"Oh?"  Suoh quirked an eyebrow. "Then I suppose you'd tell me now that you've evolved from being a fortuneteller into a magician all of a sudden, now?"

"Mahoutsukai[6]?" asked Nokoru, blonde eyebrows drawn together in confusion; head delicately tilted in question.

"Well, that _would_ explain how you came to have _those_ beside you right now, when we both know perfectly well that Akira is off on an early vacation with his mothers in the Caribbean," Suoh said, golden eyes  glancing pointedly at the large platter of ridiculously diabetes-causing pastries and sweets perched by Nokoru's pale arm.

Nokoru gave out a small, melodic laugh of surprise, realization and nervousness. "Oh! Those weren't…um, I didn't magic them here, Suoh, but I didn't go out and buy them, either. I swear!"

"Alright, I believe you, but how did you get those?" he narrowed his xanthous gaze on the elfin face in front of him.

"Oh, er," Nokoru squirmed in his seat then purged on, winning smile on his face. "I had those delivered," he said, bringing his index fingers together repeatedly.

Suoh sweat-dropped.

*          *          *          *          *          *         *          *          *         *         *          *          *

Creak. Whizz. Thud. Creak. Whizz. Thud. Creak. Whizz. Thud.

Suoh wiped his brow as much as he could through his yugake[7] as he set down his yumi[8] carefully. He was done with Kyudo[9] practice for today. Ten out of ten ya[10] on the mato[11] bullseye wasn't bad, really.

Stepping outside to the water fountains, he splashed his face with the cold water. Invigorating, he thought wearily. He saw a blur of white through the corner of his eye. Curious, he trailed the petite figure to a sakura[12] tree, darting behind a bush to remain hidden.

Suoh watched with bated breath as the elven creature lowered its white, lacy parasol to reveal the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. His heart thudding fast against his ribcage he got up from his hiding place and cautiously approached the goddess in front of him, taking in her blonde waist-length waves, her petite frame under a flowing, shimmery white dress, her white, porcelain-like skin, her delicate hands encased in supple stunningly white gloves.

Suoh cleared his throat and gasped as eerily familiar doe-like blue eyes turned to him for the first time. Time stood frozen as blue met gold under the steady, soft rain of sakura blossoms fluttering gracefully in a sensual dance to the ground.

Then, blue eyes widened and the graceful blonde creature looked away, a tint of red on her cheeks, and turned to leave.

"Wait!" cried Suoh, reaching out to grasp her wrist.

The blonde turned to face Suoh. "Yes?"

Again, that familiarity about her-it only intensified with hearing her voice. Somewhere in the back of Suoh's head, he knew he knew this person from somewhere, though he couldn't remember at the moment.

Suoh let go of her hand and wiped his sweaty palm on the sides of his hakama[13]. Suddenly, he felt very hot inside his keikogi[14].

"Please don't go. I just want to talk. I've seen you at the pet show a few months ago, but I'm sure you're not a student here. Who are you?"

"Oh, er, I'm Imo-er, Iimitzu Namiko. I'm from here, though," the blonde beauty said, extending her hand with a warm smile.

His heart skipping a beat, Suoh took the proffered hand, shaking it-along with the unwelcome thoughts that that dazzling smile was even more familiar yet. "Where here?"

"Oh, you know, around…" Namiko trailed off, pulling her hand back gently.

Suoh wanted to press for a definite answer, but thought against it. He didn't want to scare her off, since she obviously was uncomfortable around him already. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, well, Ohkawa-Kaichou of the Kindergarten Department needed help with some things."

"Oh? What things, if you don't mind?" Suoh queried, sitting on the grass and fallen sakura blossoms and leaning back against the tree trunk, his legs stretched out in front of him.

Namiko sat down gracefully beside Suoh, smoothing out her full skirt and tucking her legs partly beneath her to one side. "Well, she was organizing a ramp modeling benefit show, but her models couldn't make it today. Their flight was cancelled, from what I gathered, due to a snowstorm. So, Utako-chan asked me if I could fill in. Since I wasn't really doing anything, I agreed as a favor to a dear friend and a lady," she answered truthfully.

"_And_ a lady?" Suoh asked, wondering why it would make such a difference to this girl if the favor was asked by a lady.

"Oh, er," she flushed. "Well, you know, ano…it's a girl thing?" she said, unsure and hoping she sounded convincing.

If Suoh doubted her answer, he didn't show it. He just sat there, content to be in the presence of the uncannily beautiful fairy beside him. Somehow, this whole situation struck him as familiar, only, the flowers raining through in the back of his mind were purple, not pink. In a spasm of pain, he clutched at his head, the headache splitting him open from the inside, until he was nearly doubled over.

Namiko crouched in front of him, her hands over his, peering at him with concerned eyes the color of the sky on a clear summer day. "Suoh, daijobu desuka[15]?"

Suoh continued rocking back and forth for a few more moments before sitting back, head thrown back and lips slightly parted, taking in desperate gulps of air. "Hai, daijobou desu[16]."  Then, his golden eyes widened in realization. "How did you know my name?"

"Oh," Namiko fidgeted slightly, "you told me."

"I didn't," Suoh countered, his voice soft but sure.

"Well, you're very popular, Takamura-kun. How could a simple girl like me not know a heartthrob like you?" she said, smiling and flushing slightly.

Suoh flushed, temporarily forgetting his suspicion. Standing up and brushing grass and sakura blossoms off his hakama, he bent and offered Namiko a yugake-covered hand. "Do you want to take a walk?"

"Oh," Namiko answered, slipping her tiny hand in Suoh's. "Only if you aren't busy."

Suoh felt the corners of his lips tug upwards in a slight smile. "Nothing that can't wait."

Namiko smiled, as if she knew something Suoh didn't, and Suoh couldn't help but feel that that was exactly why she was smiling like that. He couldn't help but stare, though, at that impish face, so delicate and so familiar.

_Nokoru and Akira walked into the council room to find Suoh seated on the floor, piles of paper all around him. "Suoh?"_

_"I don't know the subjects of these papers. And the dates! These dates are three months in advance!"_

_"Suoh, these are the responsibility of the secretary. You made these."_

_…he has amnesia._

_"Amnesia?!" "he's lost his memory of the past three months…"_

_"he and Nagisa met in those three months…"_

_"I'll try to act normal so she wouldn't worry," Suoh said, determined to keep his date with Nagisa._

_"You're different today, Takamura-sempai."_

_Pain…migraines…flute…wisteria…purple hair and warm, shy smiles…_

_So close, yet so far._

_"I'm sorry, Nagisa-san…I don't remember."_

_"I understand. If we're really meant to be, then even if you don't remember what we were before, you'll still feel something for me…even if it takes some time…even if you never get your memory of the past three months back," Nagisa said tearfully._

_"I'm sorry…"_

As he pulled her up delicately, he couldn't help but notice how close they were in height. "Are you in junior high, too?"

"Yes. I'm in ninth grade[17]," Namiko replied.

"Oh, I'm in eight grade," supplied Suoh conversationally. "Ano…Namiko-san, would you-would…if you wouldn't mind…maybe-if it's not too much to ask, maybe…we could meet again sometime. You know, just to eat or take a walk, or something," Suoh finally got out, blushing furiously, looking away slightly.

Namiko's eyes widened for a moment before she smiled sadly and said, "I'm sorry, Takamura-kun, I'm afraid I can't."

Suoh's face fell. "Is it someone else? Something I said, perhaps? If it's too soon for you, I understand."

"Oh, no…there isn't someone else. It's not you, either…it's just…well, I just can't. Honto ni gomenasai[18]. I have to go," she said softly before hitching up her skirt and running off before Suoh could even register what she was doing.

Blinking, Suoh could only stare after her as she ran, with her back to him, to the sunset. She looked like and angel, dressed in white and bathed in pinkish light. His sakura blossom fairy, that's what she was.

Something near the trunk of the sakura tree they sat in caught his eye, its almost-blinding whiteness starkly contrasting with the vivid green, if not the pastel pink, around it. Curious, Suoh bent down to pick it up. A fan? He opened it, and found words written on it. "Model," it said on one side, and "Work hard" on the other. Suoh was more intrigued with his sakura blossom fairy. _She seems a lot like…Nah. _He brought the fan up to his nose and gave it a whiff. Familiar…that scent was very familiar. His eyes widened. Masaka[19]!

  


* * *

[1] President

[2] Clamp Campus Junior High School Division's

[3] council room

[4] What is it

[5] er…

[6] Magician?

[7] Kyudo gloves

[8] Japanese bow made of bamboo

[9] Japanese Archery

[10] Arrows

[11] Target

[12] Cherry Blossom

[13] Japanese "skirt" split trousers

[14] Kyudo training uniform

[15] Are you alright?

[16] Yes, I'm fine.

[17] In Japan, most kids start kinder at 6 years old, so that would make Nokoru fifteen…wouldn't it?

[18] I'm really sorry.

[19] Well, I never! or It can't be! or No way!

A/N: This is my second fic, and my first animé fic…so naturally, this is my first CCD fic, so please, be gentle. I'm still groping around with the plot and characters…what I write might not turn out to be canon, but…I'm trying my best.  Review, onegaishimasu! *puppydog eyes*


	2. Of Blossoms and Breaks

Knock, knock.

"Hai1?" Nokoru called out from behind his desk in the boardroom.

"Ohayo gozaimasu, Kaichou2," Suoh greeted amiably, shutting the double doors behind him.

"Ohayo, Suoh," answered Nokoru, quickly turning to his paperwork.

Suoh quirked his eyebrow at the offlandish behavior but said nothing. Giving the president one last glance, he made for his desk and began typing out documents.

"Suoh," Nokoru suddenly called out.

The blue-haired ninja turned to him with a questioning look. The kaichou seemed dead serious. "Nani3?"

"Ano…would you mind if I take a ten minute break? I've been working hard since an hour ago and I've finished those," he rushed on as he saw Suoh open his mouth to protest, pointing to three neat stacks of signed papers.

His guardian smiled slightly, despite himself. Sighing, he relented, remembering a similar incident three years ago. "Alright. But just for ten minutes, okay?"

The look on Nokoru's face as it lit up with happiness was enough to quell whatever doubt Suoh had in his decision to cut the president some slack. His heart skipping a beat as he watched Nokoru lean by the open window, bathed in early morning sunlight, Suoh wondered why he was reacting that way. No one mentioned when they had been filling him in on his three months' memories that he had something more than friendship with Nokoru. So why did he feel otherwise?

Shaking his head to clear the unwelcome thoughts, he turned back to his work, waiting for kaichou to finish his break.

The next day found Suoh typing furiously away at one of the school's mainframe computers. He was determined to find out if Nokoru and Namiko were the same person. He still had yet to stop and think if he'd be happy to prove himself right or otherwise.

Hours of poring over security camera logs and database searches for an Iimitzu Namiko proved fruitless and Suoh tanned, slender fingers over his face in frustration. He needed a break. He was already behind with his secretarial duties, opting to put them off so he could slave away on proving or disproving his theory, but he desperately needed a break. And he was going to take one.

Suoh opted to sit by the same sakura tree he and Namiko sat under just the other day. Leaning back on the tree trunk, he looked for all the world as if he could die at peace in that very moment, watching the blossoms flirt with the breeze before landing softly on the grass. He was almost sad that the blossoms had to land eventually; their dance left him mesmerized, their grace reminiscent of someone who walked as if their feet never touched the ground, as if they would shatter the moment they touched down.

Polished black loafers and navy blue trousers came into view.

"Suoh? What are you doing here?"

The ninja looked up and gold met blue.

"Kaichou. I thought you were in a meeting with Ohkawa-Kaichou," he said, mildly startled out of his reverie.

"I was but it just ended," the blonde smiled before plopping delicately on the ground beside Suoh. "I always loved sakura blossoms."

"Kaichou. You were in a meeting with Ohkawa-Kaichou the other day as well, ne4?" Suoh inquired, cocking his head to the side in time to see Nokoru tucking his legs underneath him and leaning against the tree.

"Hai. Why do you ask?"

"Well," Suoh started, leaning closer to his blonde charge to sniff around him, mentally nothing that a faint flush was making its way across Nokoru's cheeks and his blue eyes had widened a fraction, "I met this girl the other day and she said she had just modeled for Ohkawa-san. Funny. Ohkawa-san must be really admirable to multitask like that, ne, Kaichou?"

"Um…well, she _is_ an admirable lady, Utako-san," Nokoru smiled weakly, giving a little nervous laugh.

"Hmm. Also, I just remembered…that girl I met. She smelled kind of like you. Did you happen to hook up with someone you neglected to tell me about, kaichou?" Suoh asked slyly, hoping to bait the now slightly pink elfin boy.

"Ano…er…well, you must be talking about Namiko-san, ne? Well, I accidentally bumped into her while I was walking out of Utako-san's office-she was on her way in-and she asked what perfume I used. I showed it to her because, you know, I always keep a small bottle in my pocket because a man should never subject a lady to his less than savory odor, and I told her she could keep it, if she wanted to," Nokoru rambled on, laughing sheepishly at the end, hand coming to scratch at the back of his head.

"Yeah, Namiko," Suoh whispered. "She made me feel like I know I'm supposed to feel whenever Nagisa-san is around. Like a thousand butterflies are fluttering madly in and around my heart and my stomach. Like I'm gonna be sick if I don't get to touch her. I feel hot and cold at the same time, just looking at her."

Nokoru listened on with wide eyes and slightly parted pink lips.

"And it's eating at me because everyone said I was in love with Nagisa-san but up to the day we said goodbye at the airport, I didn't feel any of those with her and this bothers me to no end because I know it's tearing Nagisa-san apart. But every time I try to move on, I see flashes of what I think might have happened in those three months, and the harder I try to grasp and hold on to those memories long enough to find out what they mean, the stronger the headaches that follow. I don't know how long I could go on like this, kaichou. Not knowing for sure if I should move on or if these flashes of memory mean that I should go back to Nagisa-san and try to pick up where we left off. In limbo. In an agonizing limbo, that's where I am right now."

Nokoru had looked away at the mention of Nagisa but looked back at his golden-gazed guardian when he finished.

He reached down to pat Suoh's leg. "Don't force yourself, Suoh. It'll only worsen things," he said softly.

"I know. But that doesn't mean I can help it," Suoh sighed.

A/N: Gomen! Originally, I'd intended for this story to be a long one-shot but things turned out differently so I ended up making it a full story, unfortunately, I had the BIGGEST writer's block and I really planned on discontinuing. That was before I saw that I actually got AWESOME reviews on the first chapter.

This chapter may have been short, but hey, it's been a loooong time since I last wrote and I'm still trying to smooth things out.

I'm still kind of unclear on where this is going, but I do have certain ideas of what should happen along the way, so any suggestions would be awesome.

Many thanks to:

blue-phoenix5 >>who's my seme? Er…well, it's getting kind of obvious in this chapter, ne?

HikariManganji >>thanks so much!

Yumehime Yana Hossuru >>I cut back on the Japanese terms to make it easier to read through, but I still put some in just to give a sense of realism that they're Japanese. Hope it helped.

FiendisHserapH >>Lol. Thanks, you flatter me!

Car-car >>Thanks!

zharmleanzon27 >>blush Thanks so much! You're so sweet! huggles

sodesne >>I guess you're right. Hehe…seriously, your review got me pushing forward to write again. Thanks!

* * *

1 Yes 

2 Good morning, President.

3 What

4 something like, "right"


	3. Of Dreams and Reality

_A flute. Its melody carrying over the wind, creeping towards Suoh, wrapping itself in and around his senses; captivating him. He follows the sound, heart pounding erratically against his rib cage. He stops in front of a wisteria tree, looking up to see a girl with soft lilac hair playing the flute. Just as his mind registers the fact that it was Nagisa-san, the scenery shifts slightly. The wisteria tree turns into a sakura tree, and on one of its branches sits his charge, his President, his kimono**1**'s sode**2** and golden hair fluttering slightly in the breeze. He smiles slightly at his guardian and extends a slender hand, lightly touching the side of the ninja's face with a folded harisen. _

Suoh rolled over in his futon, breathing harshly, flushed and sweaty. He knew. He had been having frequent flashes of what had happened in the three months' gap in his memory for weeks now, but never had they triggered something as big as this dream had.

In a few moments of agony, Suoh lay rolling and clutching at his head as three months' worth of memories came flooding back. He could do nothing but lie there and watch the scenes play themselves in his head backwards until they stopped at the day he saw Nagisa on the wisteria tree. It felt odd, watching his memories replay themselves in reverse; he felt oddly detached from his body the whole time; like he was watching from an outsider's perspective. It was eerie and enlightening at the same time.

He knew and remembered. He remembered the heat he would feel spreading through his body whenever Nagisa would step into a room. He remembered the way his heart started beating faster whenever he laid eyes on her. He remembered how badly his body shook when he had been teaching her how to play baseball. He remembered how the accident happened, how he lost three months of his memory; how he lost his memory of _her._ He remembered trying his best to try and continue like before for Nagisa's sake. He remembered, but that was all.

He tried imagining Nagisa, her slender, pale body and her soft lilac hair; the gentle gaze in her eyes and the soft curve on her lips whenever she looked at him.

He waited for the _thump, thump, thump_ in his ribcage to start, but his heart steadfastly retained its now-steady pace. Xanthous eyes brimmed with tears; confusion, frustration and anger at himself and at the world breaking him and releasing all the pent-up emotion he harbored inside.

That night, a blue-haired, golden-eyed fifteen year-old ninja really cried for the first time in years. He cried till his shoulders shook, his nose streamed and his eyes turned red; he didn't stop even when the tears refused to pour out of his wide-open eyes and had stopped their dance down his cheeks.

Nokoru's blonde head shot up from his pile of paperwork when he heard the boardroom doors open. His smile froze on his lips when he saw that his secretary looked like death itself; his normally lustrous blue hair lay limp and dull around his face, his bright yellow eyes had turned a dull shade of mustard and his healthy tanned skin looked grey, giving him the appearance of a terminally-ill person.

"Suoh?" he queried gently, quickly getting up from behind his desk and making his way towards the blue-haired boy. "Daijobou?"

"Daijobou," Suoh answered softly, heading straight for his desk, hoping his Kaichou would get the hint and leave him alone.

Unfortunately for him, the blue-eyed Imonoyama heir was nothing if not persistent in his concern, his instinct of putting others' welfare before his kicking again.

Nokoru kneeled beside Suoh's chair, laying his hand gently on his secretary's arm. "Nandesu ka?"

"Nothing, really, Kaichou. I just had a rough night. Please don't concern yourself with me just because I'm a bit off. You should get back to your paperwork," Suoh answered, forcing a smile at his charge.

"A bit off?" Nokoru breathed incredulously. "A bit off! You always force me to tell you what's wrong with me, always try to make everything alright for me, always ask me to trust you, but you can't seem to trust in me enough to tell me what's wrong with you. You always tell me that I put others above myself all the time, yet here you are, doing just that which you accuse me of," he cried out, arms flailing around in emphasis. "I won't sit back and let you be when you're obviously breaking apart at the seams. What's the point of years of friendship, then?" he finished softly, blue eyes conveying what his words and actions could not.

Suoh sighed. He knew when he was defeated. His shoulders slumped; he was too drained emotionally and physically to put up much of a struggle anyway.

He stared at the wall slightly to his right, face averted from Nokoru's heartbreakingly open face. "I remember," was all he said quietly.

A sharp intake of breath to his left brought his gaze back to the blonde boy kneeling beside him.

"I…I…," Nokoru started off awkwardly, shock robbing him of the capacity to speak. "Well, what are you going to do?" he asked tentatively when he had composed himself enough.

"What do you mean what am I going to do?" Suoh frowned. "There's nothing to do. I remember everything-from what happened down to what I felt at precisely each moment-but it doesn't seem to matter now. I remember how I felt for Nagisa back then, but I don't feel that anymore. I stopped feeling it years ago."

Nokoru's eyes widened a fraction and his heartbeat sped up a notch. "W-what?"

"I didn't know for sure, but now I do."

"Know _what_ for sure? What is it, Suoh?" Nokoru asked, trying to keep the tremor making its way across his body away from his voice.

"That I stopped feeling that way for her just before the accident. My guilt held me back when I still had no recollection of what had happened in those three months so much that I couldn't even entertain the possibility that I had fallen out of love with her before the accident. But now that I remember exactly what happened, I'm certain," he said, standing up and pacing the room. "If I was still in love with her before the accident, then even if I didn't remember the three months we spent getting to know each other, it wouldn't matter. The moment I laid eyes on her after the accident, I'm sure that my heart should have beat faster and I should have the butterflies in my stomach, but I didn't. When I saw her, it was just another "who are you and how do I know you?" situation."

Nokoru fell silent, taking all this in. A part of him was ecstatic but the other part was making him feel sick because this meant that Nagisa's heart would be broken yet again, and this time, there was nothing Suoh could do to fix it. Not when he was now sure of what he felt…or didn't, for that matter.

"You have to tell her, you know, right?"

"Hai. It would break my heart to do it, but only because I feel like I've wasted years of her life inadvertently giving off the impression that I might remember how we were and we could pick up where we left off," Suoh said, stopping his aggravated pacing to stand in front of the boardroom's large window behind Nokoru's desk. "It took years for me to remember what happened, Kaichou, and I owe it to Nagisa-san to tell her the truth right away. So I won't waste anymore of her time."

Blue eyes followed Suoh's progress to the telephone, watching him lift the handset from the cradle then holding the lever down as he turned to Nokoru.

"Kaichou, forgive my rudeness but I don't think I could do this with an audience," he said, golden eyes pleading for understanding.

Flustered, Nokoru quickly stood up and began to walk out of the boardroom. "Iie. Gomen, Suoh. I should've realized you needed privacy sooner. I'll be out by the gardens if you need me. Ganbatte3," he said softly as he closed the door behind him.

Outside, he leaned against the closed doors for awhile, eyes closed and breathing irregular. He needed fresh air or he would asphyxiate.

Long, slender legs carried him as fast as they could (considering his poor motor skills) to the garden, where he slumped against a tree trunk.

As he slid down onto the grass, he lay down and looked up, realizing with a jolt that he was lying under the same sakura tree Namiko and Suoh met and his guardian had almost cornered him into admitting he was Namiko.

He watched idly as the blossoms fluttered down, some landing in his hair, on his cheeks, and a lone petal was bold enough to settle itself on his lips. Nokoru smiled. This was simple; it was easy to live in a dream world where he could pretend Nagisa-san was okay and that she loved someone else and that Suoh would see that he was here all the while, like he always was.

A strong hand gently shaking his shoulder woke Nokoru up; he hadn't realized he had fallen asleep. He blinked bleary blue eyes and locked gazes with Suoh's golden ones.

He sat up suddenly. "What happened?"

Suoh smiled and sat down beside Nokoru. He looked years different from the way he had this morning; his eyes were closed as he tipped his face back against the tree trunk and towards the sun. "I told her."

"And…?" Nokoru prompted, understandably baffled. He had expected to see Suoh disgruntled or ashen or shaken, by the very least. He had expected a dozen different things, but this-whatever this was-wasn't one of them.

"She knew before me. She knew _years_ before I did, it turns out. She was sad when I told her, but she said it wasn't like she wasn't expecting this. She said she hoped it wouldn't turn out this way, but now, it doesn't matter. I just wish she had told me the moment she realized so we could've both been spared the grief," he finished with a laugh.

Nokoru was dumbfounded. "She knew? And she's okay?"

"Yeah," sighed Suoh, still smiling slightly. "I should've known she was smart and perceptive enough to know. She's an amazing lady, and she'll make a good wife to some lucky guy someday."

"Yeah, she will," Nokoru smiled. Yokatta4. Everything seemed right and clear in his _real _world for the first time in years. Now, if only Iijyuin were back from his vacation, they could have some strawberry cake to celebrate with.

A/N: Er…was that considered angst? It was anticlimactic at the end, but I couldn't bring myself to let them suffer for long. Who could blame me, though? I wuv Suoh and Nokoru too much/glomps Nokoru and Suoh/

P.S. Sorry, but it looks like we'll have to do with short chappies from now on.

Arigato gozaimasu:  
Sodesne, zharmleanzon (or chrrypnk)

* * *

1 Traditional Japanese clothing 

2 sleeve

3 Good luck

4 I'm glad.


End file.
